The Amazing Adventures of Kiera Ride
by haaschiibrownii
Summary: Max and Fang's child, Kiera, is just a teenage girl. Oh yeah, with wings. Otherwise, she leads a normal life. But things are starting to get a little weird for Kiera, and her life is going to change drastically in the near future. Rated T to be safe.
1. Stuck in math with a looooong test

_This is crap._ I thought sourly as I stared at the piece of paper that was supposed to be a beginning of the year math assessment. More like let's-see-how-stupid-you-are-so-we-can-put-you-where-everyone-will-know-how-you-did-on-a-test-you-couldn't-even-study-for.

But I suppose they could mean the same thing. I guess it really depends on your outlook. Half-empty or half-full, readers?

I sighed and touched the answer sheet with my mechanical pencil. I suppose that I should at least try. Hmpf. _Try. _I shuddered. I was starting to sound like one of the amazing students that actually knows all of the answers to these tests. I'm pretty sure that you're smart enough to figure out that I'm not one of 'em.

But I really would try my best. My mom would kill me if she found out that I wasn't trying to advance in math (which I happen to SUCK at. Always have). Sadly, my mother (unlike most) actually has the capability to kill me. Scary, huh? She really wants me to learn and graduate, 'cause she never had the chance.

So how would mom be able to kill me? Is she an ax murderer? No. Does she keep hunting rifles in the basement? Again, no. Did she expertly wield knives in a circus act? Sadly, no. That would be very cool though. Anyways, it's worse.

She's Maximum Ride.

Yes, you did read that right. THE Maximum Ride. The saving the world, the destroying of Itex, yada yada yada. I've heard it all before. But not from my mom, of course. She's actually very modest, and never wants to talk about it. Seriously. It's like women hiding their age. As soon you get on the topic, they steer away from it.

Anyways, it wasn't ONLY my mom. It was my dad too, and the rest of the flock. But she gets a lot of the credit, because supposedly it was her mission, given to her by who knows what. She still hasn't figured out who the Voice was yet. At least it's gone now.

Plus, that was, what, thirty years ago? I don't feel like going into the details. Go look it up in your history textbook. Or your science. I'm pretty sure that they're in both.

I bet you're wondering about my dad. Or not. Most of you probably guessed who it is. Yes, it is Fang. And no, he's not as amazingly attractive as all of you giggly girls think that he is. (Although I guess I am a little bit biased. I mean, he's my dad! Thinking of your father like that is just… eew.) Anywhoo, get over it. He's most definitely not single. And you're probably not his type.

But mom totally is. They, like, complete each other. And the story of their love (Oh god, that sounds so sappy) is kind of tragic and interesting. Gah. I'm even making myself shudder.

Anyways, they both grew up together, side by side. It wasn't for quite a while that they started to like, _like-like_ each other.

God, I sound so shallow.

After a while, this butt Dylan, erm, butted in. He convinced dad to leave mom, to try to keep her safe. So, dad left and wrote this crazy note for mom. It basically said, I love you, I need to keep you safe, so I'm leaving you for at least 20 years.

Mom actually cried. And I can tell you, it takes a lot to make her cry. It needs to be completely _life shattering_.

So I'm pretty sure that this qualified.

But, mom wasn't going to go with that and wait 20 years to see him again. She searched the globe tirelessly until she was reunited with him. During that time, she fought a lot of battles, learned a lot of stuff, and, oh yeah, saved the world. And I'm not even going into that. It involves a lot science-y stuff that I couldn't even begin to explain. Like I've said before, go look it up in some textbook.

But, the most important part was that she nearly failed without dad. He was her beta, her second in command, her significant other. And for sure, the difference without him was quite significant.

And dad realized it. Plus he missed her, ached for her, needed her. He sent out a message, everywhere, looking for her. It took less than 24 hours for her to find him. After that, they stuck together. Heck, they even got married.

And then they had me. Kiera Ride, born June 17th 2027. The current year is 2040, and I just turned thirteen a couple months ago. Let me answer some questions that you might have about me. One: Yes, I do have the wings. And they're freaking _awesome._ Twelve-and-a-half feet long, purely white on my primaries and secondaries, but everywhere a deep glinting black. If I do say so myself, they are quite amazing.

Two: No one except my family knows that I'm a bird-kid. I go to school, have normal friends, live a normal life. Well, except for the leisure flying. Sometimes I wish I had grown up like my mom. But noooooooooo, I just have to get an "education", which is why I'm stuck in this math test. Yuk. At least my classmates have to suffer through this too. And to protect all this, my last name is legally "Ryde". So I suppose there's no possible way I could be related to the great Maximum Ride, could there?

No. Freakin'. Dur.

Three: No, I've never lived the life of my parents. I've never been in a battle (though I do know how to fight), I've never been a life-or-death situation (except when I'm battling for the TV remote, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't count), and I don't have a Voice or a mission. All I have to do is live. Which, let me say, I'm pretty darn good at.

There. Now you at least have a background for me. Also, my best friend's name is Annalise. Anna for short. And she's awesome. Always there, even though she doesn't know about the wings.

I mean, she's even here right now, in this godforsaken classroom sitting right behind me, staring at the same test. I really need to get back to that. It just MIGHT determine who I get stuck with for the rest of the year. That was sarcasm, did you catch it?

Anywhoo, I'll get back to you later.


	2. MarioKart and Bad Images

Hi everyone! I apologize for not putting an A/N in the first chapter. I was in a little bit of a rush, and wanted to finish it before I went to bed. Of course, after that, I stayed up writing this chapter with my book light. So, I guess not having enough time to put an A/N isn't a very good excuse.

Sorry.

Anywhoo, I should probably just get all the formal stuff over with.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. Sadly. I don't anything else in here that, um, I don't own. I'm not sure what I'm gonna mention in here, so if you recognize it, it's probably not mine.

Claimer: I do own all of my OC's. I'm not sure why I put that there, but it felt right. Oh well. Ignore it if you want.

Note: I'm not sure if my line between the A/N and the story will show up. It didn't on my Night World Fanfic. So, everything after this statement and above the footer is the story.

Kiera's POV

I tapped my pencil excitedly on the graffitied desk and waited for the bell to ring. It had been a long day that had gone by pretty quickly.

Did you catch that? That was my attempt at an oxymoron. We learned about them in English class. Y'know, I'm not even sure if that counts as an oxymoron. Oh well. I think it's pretty clever.

But really, it was a long day. It's only the second week of school, so everything's still getting worked out. And I swear, every single year I get with one of the oldest lockers in the school that jam nearly every time you try to open them. At least after two years I've finally perfected the kicking-your-locker-so-hard-it'll-swing-open technique.

I glanced at the clock again, and sighed. There were still three minutes left. My science teacher, Mr. Schmidt, was on his laptop, angrily poking it's screen while his face slowly turned beet red. Poor Mr. Schmidt. Sadly, touch screen computers hadn't really hit the fan yet. Nothing "technologically advanced" had. We were still stuck with the technology of twenty years ago.

Two minutes. Other students were sleeping, spacing off, or reading. Ugh, reading. Now, don't get me wrong, I love books, but I might be more of an avid reader if all the books in the library weren't geared for a younger age group. Seriously, they all have titles like "Race to the Faerie Flower Garden" or "Monster Truck Adventure". See why reading isn't one of my biggest hobbies?

One minute. My pencil tapping sped up, becoming more and more erratic. I exchanged a glance with Anna, and she gave a smile that said that she was just as anxious to be released as I was. We had plans for after school, mostly involving going to her house and playing MarioKart until I had to be home for dinner. Which was like, any time before 10:00. But I would be home before then. Anna's life ran on a normal schedule. But at least I wasn't going straight home. My younger brother, Jayden, had been bugging me for the past couple days. I'd rather avoid him.

My eyes fixed on the clock. 5…4…3…2…1… Freedom! I burst out my seat, grabbed my backpack, and raced out of the door with Anna at my heels. We maneuvered through the crowds, bumping and shoving our way through the mass of people smushed together. We ran out the front door and across the street. After that we slowed down to a normal pace for the four-block walk to Anna's house.

"God, Social Studies was terrible, wasn't it?" Anna said breathlessly.

"Totally. We're STILL," I put emphasis on the word, "learning the junk we learned in fifth grade. Do they think we're idiots?" I said as I hitched my backpack higher on my right shoulder.

"Probably. Remember, the teacher had to show Andrew Renaldi how to hold a pencil the other day."

I laughed. My class did have several problems. There was Andrew, who was nice and gentle but a little daft. Alexis, who had the talent of managing to fill the entire class period with discussions of absolutely nothing. Me, the bird-kid with "special" talents (I'll explain those later). Elise Zipetti, the absolute WORST person in the entire world. (I got back at her once by pushing her into the school pool. Yes, with her designer clothes on.)

We walked down Anna's street, filling each other in on our day. Nothing special, so I won't bore you with the details. As she swung open her front door and we walked inside, I caught my reflection in a mirror. My hair, black with subtle brown highlights, was still in its sleek, high ponytail. My tan skin practically glowed in the reflection, and I stared at the thin scar on my right cheek that I got from sparring with my "cousin" Vivian. She's Aunt Nudge and Uncle Iggy's kid, and only ten, but boy, she must file her nails to points or something, because when she scratches you, it HURTS.

Anna and I threw our backpacks in the living room and headed into the basement and turned on her Wii. After popping in the disc, we stayed down there until 6:00 whupping each other at MarioKart. (there's your answer for what the cool kids do after school) Anna had to eat dinner with her family, (they make a big deal about family time there) so I headed out the door. My house was about four miles away, so I could be there in around five minutes.

Conveniently, there was an empty for sale lot about a block away from Anna's house. I ran over, and did a once over on the deserted street. After seeing no one, I whipped out my wings and took off.

I spread out my arms and inhaled the sweet evening air. I knew that I was one of the luckiest people in the world, being able to do this freely without being stuck in a plane. A quick burble of laughter escaped my lips as I twirled through the air.

I landed on the deck of our large house, quickly noticing that almost all of the windows were dark except for my parent's room. Something was wrong. Either that or I was just being paranoid, but still. I lived with the entire original flock and their children, so it was highly unlikely that they were all being chummy and hanging out together in that one room.

Trying to be as quiet as I could, I slid open the door and stepped inside. Taking off my shoes, I treaded carefully on the carpet, making next to no sound. When I reached my parents room, I paused. Should I even open the door?

Of course I should.

Taking a deep breath I opened the door. And I most definitely didn't like what I saw.

Because there was a man, and he had a gun to Angel's daughter Chloe's small blond head.

So how was that? I'm happy that I finally have a second chapter to one of my stories. Because sadly, I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to continue on Needlephobia (if you haven't read it, don't. It's not… the best.), and I'm not sure what I'm going to do in Wild Power. I'm still trying to figure out what the prophecy means.

Urgh. So confusing.

So… R&R?


	3. Well, that was a shocker

My computer is frustrating me.

First, it won't indent my paragraphs when I upload it to the site. Second, the line that I put between my A/N and story won't show up. Ever. I'll just try to leave notes after where the story starts. Sorry bout that.

Also, I realized that I've been mentioning a lot of things that I haven't explained yet, like how the characters look, who the characters ARE, and all of that. I'm waiting for the right opportunity to fit it in somewhere where it'll flow smoother than if I just said, "So and so looks like this. And this person has a pimple on their nose." Again, sorry.

So, uh, I guess the story starts after this. I'll try to put a line with a different symbol. Sorry if it won't show up. Use your, uh, reader smarts. By the way, be ready for a VERY long sentence. I should have changed it, but I was lazy. Oh wells.

/

Kiera's POV

Oh. My. God.

What was I going to do? My eyes swept around the room and I saw the rest of the flock and their children standing in the corner of the room. Nudge and Iggy were holding Vivian and Jamie, their son, Angel was burying her face in her non-mutant husband Jared's shoulder, my parents were both staring angrily at the assassin, my father with Jayden clinging onto his arm, and Gazzy, our resident bachelor, was staring unblinkingly at the man holding his niece, as if his gaze could burn a hole in his flesh.

And me? I was standing there stupidly, my mouth open and my eyes blinking rapidly. Gee, I really can stay strong in the face of danger.

"You. There. Now." The man/assassin/thing said in a monotone voice as he jerked his head toward the rest of the group. I just stood rooted to the spot, too shocked to move. When I didn't, the man grabbed Chloe's arm forcefully and dragged her over to me, lifting the gun from her cranium.

Instead, he put it on mine.

_'tlethimkillmeohGodplease, _was all that was going through my mine as I felt the cold black metal push against my head. All that needed to happen for him to kill me would be for his finger to pull the trigger and I would be dead.

What I needed was to disappear, but I couldn't do that. Only dad could. Unfortunately, I hadn't gotten that gene.

This would be a great time for me to develop a new skill. Unfortunately, that hadn't happened to anyone since the days of Itex, and it wasn't likely it would happen to me. This was probably going to end in death. Make that MY death.

I just needed something to get us out of this fix. A skill, a tool, an opportunity. It needed to show up _right now. _A miracle.

I closed my eyes and prayed. There were voices in the background. The assassin's monotone. My mother's. The assassin was demanding something. Money? Service? I don't know. Whatever it was, it sounded like mom was agreeing. Wait, mom was agreeing? Oh right, there was a gun to my head. I could DIE.

Suddenly, I knew that I should open my eyes, and when I did, I couldn't believe what I saw. Everything was frozen, and I was standing in the same spot that I had been. I walked away from the gun slowly, not taking any chances.. There was a voice, but the words were too slow to identify. Make that word. I don't think it had changed yet.

Then I realized: I'd gotten that new skill, and I needed to use it NOW. Moving quickly, I sucker punched the assassin in the gut, and flipped his surprisingly heavy body onto the ground. He landed on his stomach, and I grabbed the gun and sat down on top of him. Somewhat shakily, I pressed the cold machine against the nape of his neck.

That's when I realized that no one was frozen anymore. It looked like I had caught my mom in mid-sentence, because she suddenly broke off and stared at me, as did everyone else. No one had moved at all.

"How did you do that?" Chloe asked excitedly as she looked at me, then the man, then the gun with wide eyes.

I smiled. "I think I might have developed a new skill." Against all odds, but hey, you don't question good things when they happen. I definitely wasn't going to start now.

Mom cautiously moved towards the man and I. "Is he… dead?

"I don't think so." I said. "Look. His eyes are still, erm, alive."

From the sideways view we had of his squished face, we could confirm that his eyes were indeed "alive". But now up close, we could see that they had a sort of glow to them, like a backlight. It wasn't right. There was something unnatural about this man.

My mom seemed to sense this, and she solemnly looked at me, which is funny, because mom is almost never solemn. "He's not human. We need to shoot him."

I gulped. Usually, I would do this in a heartbeat, but somehow now… I shook my head. "I can't."

Wordlessly, dad glided over, took the gun, and pulled the trigger. And this assassin wasn't human, that was for sure. Right where the bullet went in, you could see a cluster of wires, some of them shredded and disconnected where the bullet had gone through. They must've been vital, because the glow had faded from the robot's eyes.

Dad glanced at me. "You're pale. You need to lay down."

"No." I said firmly. "I can handle it. I'm just gonna go get a drink of water." I swallowed, my suddenly dry throat burning with thirst.

I slowly walked down to the kitchen, grabbed my favorite cup, and got the water pitcher out of our modest fridge. Sitting down, I sipped from the cup and stared at the wall. _What just happened? _I thought to myself. _I'm not even sure who I am anymore. _

So, just let me ask. Do life changing things like this happen every day?

/

YES! I finally have three chapters. That's, like, a record for me. Funny, this story I actually want to write.

Oh well. I wont take of too much of your time with this.

R&Rness?


	4. Vivian and her bombs

Ahhhhhhh, I love this. No annoying brother to distract me. He went to Webelos camp. I feel bad for him though. He's camping in a tent in the humidity and getting eaten alive while I type on a computer in the air conditioned house. But at least he's learning!

Finally, peace and quiet. By the way, I know that I keep mentioning this, but I still can't get the darn line to show up. But, when I put a whole line of slashes, it will give me one inbetween the A/N and the story. Look for it on the right side. I got it to work in the third chapter.

/

Vivian's POV

Well, this sucks. At least no one died. Well, 'cept for the poor schmuck taking a dirt- I mean, carpet nap. Poor robot.

I have to say that I felt sorry for him. He might have had a family of robots, with a little girl robot that loved him and called him daddy. And a wife robot that made chicken and soup for their robot family each night and kissed him and called him honey.

I wish that he lived like that. Everyone deserves to, even if they are a robot. But, he probably didn't. At least it makes it easier for him to go. There's no one left that will really miss him.

But now, I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't want to go off and do the things that I normally like to do, because it wouldn't have felt right. So, for now, I just sat on Aunt Max and Uncle Fang's bed, trying to hear what the adults were saying. It was obvious that they didn't want any of the kids to hear.

But I wanted to know and help. I turned my ear just a little bit to try to hear better. It didn't help much, but if I concentrated really hard, I could hear little bits of their conversation.

"…Make bombs…" I head Daddy say. I snapped up. I could make bombs. Heck, I even had a few we could use. I was planning on blowing the smaller one up in Jamie's closet, but I guessed that this was more important.

I ran out of the room, the door swinging behind me. After going down the stairs, I turned the corner into my bedroom. There was a loose floor panel that had an open space under it where I kept the bombs I wanted to keep secret. I grabbed all three of them, then raced back upstairs to where all of the adults were.

I walked right up to them, and poked daddy on the shoulder. "You guys can have my bombs." I said, excited that I could help.

Daddy laughed, and grabbed the bombs out of my hands. "Look, we're all standing here talking, and my daughter's already gotten started." He felt the bombs, then whispered in my ear, "Nice job. I knew that you'd take after me."

Well, duh. I already looked a lot like him. I had his strawberry blond hair, and his face, but I wasn't so pale. I was, like, more tan.

Aunt Max frowned. "I doubt that three bombs would make much of a difference. From my experience, we might need a lot more."

I shrugged. "I can make more. It's easy."

"Do you know where the stuff is?" Daddy asked.

"Yeah, all the really good stuff is in your closet. By the way, how did you get the chlorine without the pool? Just wondering."

Daddy's face reddened, and Mommy turned to look at him with her hands on her hips. "I'm staring at you, hon." She said, making sure he knew she was staring him down.

Daddy chuckled embarrassedly. "Right…" He leaned down to my ear again. "Thanks a bunch."

"That's what I'm here for!" I said in a singsong voice as I skipped off to Mommy and Daddy's room. I felt kind of bad for getting Daddy in trouble, but I knew that Mommy wouldn't be too hard on him. Well, at least I got to use his closet stash!

/

Eh heh. Not my best chapter. I'm pretty sure I used "Mommy" and "Daddy" too much. I made Viv sound younger than she is. Oh well, I think that it's kinda cute. I won't change it.

Sorry for the short chapter. I wasn't in a very "inspirational" mood today. Wow. I do sound like my "How to Write" book.


	5. Oh, so now it won't work

Me: Today I've been thinking-

Kiera: You've been thinking? No. Way.

Me: Very funny. Wait, when did you get here?

Kiera: I've been here since you posted me on the FFFC forum.

Me: Oh yeah… Well, back to my thought! Although, Kiera may be right, me thinking can be slightly dangerous…

Kiera: Get on with it.

Me: Anywhoo, I realized that it's pretty much impossible to be sad when you're listening to Owl City. The songs are all so uppity and poppy.

Kiera: So THAT'S who you were singing. Thanks to you, I now have Super Honeymoon stuck in my head.

Me: Well, that's your problem.

Kiera: Oh, trust me, I have bigger problems than that.

Me: I know. I know everything about you.

Kiera: Right, the whole "I created you, be grateful" thing… This is getting awkward, please start writing. I beg of you!

Me: Yeah, yeah, whatever…

/

Kiera's POV

I didn't do much of anything that night, except try to figure out my new skill. Sadly, I couldn't do… whatever it was I did again. I'm not even sure what I did. Did I freeze time, or did I just move so fast that it seemed like everyone was frozen? Is it the same thing? I really, don't know. What I do know is that it's pretty darn useful.

I guess that I should probably explain my other skills. I have a knack for finding lost things, but we're really not sure if that's a "skill" or just intuition. But, hey, it works for me.

I also can see things that that I really can't see. If it's in, say, the same room and I know exactly where it is, I can focus really hard on it get a picture in my mind. I can easily see what sixteen year old Jamie is really doing on the computer. And honestly, I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

And finally, there's my new skill. You already know what that does. Or you should, at least. Pay attention, class.

So, you can probably guess that I didn't get much sleep last night. If you guessed that I did, because I was mentally exhausted and I would crash just as soon as I flopped onto my bed, you were wrong. I was mentally exhausted, but yet, I got maybe an hour (if I'm lucky) of sleep. Life just works with me that way.

So did I get to stay home after that ordeal? No, of course not. We had to keep our _cover._ I probably could've said that I was sick, but the truth is that I've never, ever, been sick in my entire life. Everyone at school would see through it like a glass wall.

Now, I'm stuck here, trying not to tell the teacher to shut up because she's disturbing my thoughts. Despite my restless night, I was awake and alert, on the lookout for anything suspicious and or dangerous. I didn't talk to anyone, I didn't pay attention, I was just there. To add to it all, I had none of my homework done. I had four DT's racked up by the end of the day.

I skipped em'.

Heck, I was going to pay for it later, but right, now, it didn't matter. Nothing mattered except making it home.

I have to admit that I felt a little guilty after ignoring Anna after she figured out that something was up. I even had the gall to push her away after she tried to put her hand on my shoulder. Normally, I would apologize, but as soon as the end of the day bell rang, I was gone.

I didn't feel safe going out the front entrance, so I maneuvered through the hallways to the back of the school. As shoved open the heavy metal door, I didn't hear it shut behind me. Whirling around, I found my follower to be… Anna.

She put her hands on her hips. "What's up? Something's wrong with you, I know it. I'm not letting you leave until you tell me."

I groaned inwardly. These were the times when I hated the fact that Anna was the perfect friend. She wanted to help, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. This could turn out bad for me.

I considered my options: 1. Fly away. No, that wouldn't work, she'd see my wings and I'd be exposed. 2. Run away. That wouldn't work either, she'd follow me. There was a reason she was the long distance star on the track team. 3. Talk to her. This was pretty much the only viable course of action. I'd have to lie, and it'd have to be quick.

I sighed. "Okay. There's just… something going on at home, and it's kind of overwhelming."  
Her gaze softened. "Are your parents fighting? Did someone die?"

"No." I said. "It's not like that. It's just that something happened last night, and it was new, and some really weird stuff went down.

"Okay." She said softly accepting my answer. "Is there any way that I can…" she trailed off in mid-sentence.

"Help?" I asked, trying to finish it for her. She didn't respond, but stared over my shoulder like a deer in the headlights.

Crap.

I slowly turned around. Sure enough, there they were. Five robots this time, still equipped with guns. The guns looked different this time, with an elongated barrel pointed at yours truly.

Anna let out a small squeak of fear, and two of them turned and pointed their barrels at her.

"Anna." I said quietly. "Don't move. When I say so, open the door and run as fast as you can. Don't stop, and don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

She nodded ever so slightly to acknowledge my order. She had started to tremble, but stayed strong in her position.

The robots remained in their position. The robots loaded their guns. It was time.

"On three. One… Two… GO!" I shouted. I ran and jumped to take whatever they were shooting for Anna so she could escape.

But, instead of bolting like a smart girl, she went halfway then turned back, worried for me. "Stupid, stupid girl!" I shouted, landing on the asphalt and scraping my elbow and side. As quick as lightning, they shot her, and after a second, she crumpled to the ground. Tranqs!

I started to get up, my chest and elbow aching. I needed my skill to kick in again. I concentrated as hard as I could, but as fast as I could blink, one of the marksmen shot me.

_Mom….. help me, _was the last thought that I had before I blacked out.

/

Kiera: Gee, thanks a lot. You've screwed me.

Me: You're welcome. Don't worry, it'll turn out fine. It would be slightly disappointing if the heroine died.

Kiera: *glares at her master* Yes. Yes it would.

Me: You really do scare me.

Kiera: I try.

R&R?


	6. We found Anna, but where's Kiera?

Me: Sadly, I have nothing interesting to say.

Kiera: Thank goodness, a good change for once.

Me: *sigh*

/

Max's POV

I checked the clock anxiously. It was 3:00 and Kiera still wasn't home. Knowing her, she would have gotten back as soon as she could, and school let out at 2:45.

I couldn't call the office, they'd think I was overreacting. It would take at the very least fifteen minutes to walk back to the house, but Kiera would've flown, and should have been back ten minutes ago.

Maybe I really was overreacting. After all, she could have stayed with someone else or in a group. What troubled me was that I didn't know the new threat, so I didn't know how they would behave. They might want to catch her alone, but from what I'd dealt with, they probably wouldn't care who else was there.

I decided to give her another ten minutes. Maybe she had stayed at school, or with a friend. I got back to drying the dishes, trying to put it out of my head. But the paranoia kept coming back to me, and I called Fang in from his study.

"Kiera's not home?" he said nonchalantly as if this was nothing to worry about. But I knew him well, and could identify the glint of worry in his eyes as he tried to keep cool.

"No, I'm worried. She should be back by now." I said, drying another plate with my towel.

He stood brooding in the silence for a moment, then put his shoes on. "I'm going to look for her."

I nodded curtly as he left through the front door. Something was up, but he would find whatever it was and it put me at ease.

Fang's POV

I walked briskly down our suburban street, on the lookout for anything suspicious. No one was outside, and the only activity was an abandoned plastic bag riding the wind.

I traced the route to the middle school, seeing the occasional student with a bulging backpack. As I checked every face, disappointment kept coming back to me: None of them were Kiera.

When I reached the school, I immediately went into the main office and asked if she was anywhere in the school. The secretary clicked her mouse several times and scrolled down.

"She has four detentions, but it seems that she hasn't reported to any of them." The secretary said. "You can go look if you want, but you'll need to take a visitors pass and sign in."

I scribbled my cover name, Nicholas Ryde, and put the sticker on my hoodie. I was on the lookout for her, but mostly everyone had cleared out. That, I could understand. I wouldn't want to be stuck in school any longer than I had to.

After checking with the first, second, and third teacher, I practically ran to the fourth classroom, praying (something that I didn't do often) that she would be here.

She wasn't.

I signed out at the main office and thanked the secretary. She smiled at me, then took a phone call, cradling the desk phone in the crook of her neck.

The last thing left to do was trace the perimeter of the school, look for any clues. I was grasping at straws and becoming more and more desperate with each step. Reaching the back, I spotted a crumpled form fifty yards away. I couldn't tell who it was, but it could have been her, so I ran as fast as I could.

Reaching the body, my hopes plummeted, as I caught a glimpse of blonde hair under the hood. Kiera's was black.

I rolled the teenage girl over, and checked for a pulse. It was still there, this girl had just been knocked out. Then I took a long look at her face, and realized who this was. Kiera's best friend, Anna.

This had to be connected to Kiera, I knew it. I pulled out the tranquilizer dart embedded in Anna's leg. They probably shot Kiera too, but they wouldn't have left her. Anna was a mere annoyance that they didn't need, but Kiera was the prize.

I whipped out my cell phone and dialed the home number. Max answered hopefully, desperate for news on Kiera.

"She's not here, but Anna is. She's been tranq'd."

I head a sharp intake of breath in the receiver. "So you think they took Kiera?"  
"I'm positive." I said, finally realizing the seriousness of the situation. "I need Elizabeth Codley's number." Anna's mother.

There line was silent for several seconds then Max gave me the number.

"Thanks." I said, then hung up. "555-2765." I repeated to myself as I dialed the number.

"Hello?... Yes, I'm fine, thank you…. No, I have some bad news…" I gave her what I knew of the story without giving us away. I told her that I'd bring Anna to her house. She was frantic, and hung up on me to dial 911.

I picked up Anna in my arms, and ran as fast as I could to her house. Heck, I even beat the police. I didn't even have to knock on the door, because Elizabeth had been watching for me.

She took Anna into her arms and sagged under the new weight. Gently setting her down on the couch she turned to me. "You ran here? With her?"  
I nodded curtly. "I should leave. Kiera's missing."

She covered her mouth with her hand. "That's how you found Anna. Oh, I'm so sorry." Tears bloomed in her eyes. "But could you please stay until the police arrive? I'm sure that they'll want to talk to you, and they might be able to help."

I sighed. From my experience, the police wouldn't be able to do squat if these enemies were in any way similar to our other ones. But I knew that I wasn't going to be able to leave. Elizabeth wouldn't let me. "I suppose that that would be a good idea."

At least I didn't have to wait long. A police car pulled into the driveway, along with an ambulance. I got the third degree from one of the police officers, bluntly answering any question he threw my way. There was only one that had me stuck.

"Is there anyone that might want to hurt Kiera or Anna? A enemy of the family?"

I sucked in my breath. Of course there was. I knew exactly who had taken her, but I didn't want to risk our cover.

"I need to call my wife." I said to the officer, and he scribbled something down on his notepad.

I stepped into the adjoining room and dialed up the home number again. The first thing I said was, "Should I tell them?"

Max responded, "Tell who what?"

"The police. The new threat."

She considered it for a moment, trying to decide whether it was worth risking our cover. After a minute of heavy phone static, "Yes."

I hung up and returned to the officer. "Yes, there is someone who might have wanted to harm or kidnap her. Last night, we were attacked by a single man with a gun at our house. In self defense, Kiera terminated him."

"Your daughter killed a man?" The officer scratched several lines out in his notes and anxiously scribbled the information down in a rough chicken scratch.

"No. After examination, we determined that he was a robot, or an assassin of some sort. Kiera incapacitated him when he put the gun to her head and demanded our cooperation. Then I pulled the trigger."

"Sir, I'd like to visit your house and examine the body." The officer said as he flipped his notepad closed.

I nodded almost imperceptibly and followed him out to his cruiser. I shook my head, knowing that everything was about to go haywire.

/

Me: Eh, not the best chapter.

Kiera: Thanks, you've gotten my entire family in trouble.

Me: It was a necessary event to keep the story moving!

Kiera: That's what they all say.

Me: Ugh… Why couldn't I get someone nice to talk to? Someone that's not a total _cynic?_

Kiera: You're stuck with me. Deal with it.

Me: *sigh*

R&R?


	7. The most fun I've had today

Me: First day of school!

Kiera: Oh, we're supposed to be excited?

Me: It was fun! I (sort of) made a friend!

Kiera: Well, good for you.

Me: Thank yo- Wait. That was sarcasm. *glares*

Kiera: I thought you'd miss it, but I guess by now I should know that you're just slow to realize things.

Me: Oh, be quiet.

Kiera: Yeah, yeah, you can't make me!

Me: *in creepy voice* Can't I? Can't I really? *****pulls out wooden dagger*

Kiera: *spooked* I, uh, I-I have to, um, go now. *speeds off, leaving a cartoon phantom image in her place*

Me: *in personal planner* Scare away Kiera… check. Wow, I never really thought that would work. *turns over dagger* It even says Medieval Times on it…

/

Kiera's POV

When I woke up, I wished I hadn't.

My head hurt like hell, and the rest of my body wasn't feeling all too chipper either. When I had been knocked out, I must've been beat up, or something along those lines, because everything hurt and I could see lines of bruises up and down my legs.

I tried to check my arms, but after a moment of weak struggling, I druggedly realized that my hands were, in fact, tied behind my back with some kind of cord or rope. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to break or move any time soon. I sighed. My legs were bound in the same fashion. I couldn't even stand up because my hands were tied to a handle in the wall. To add to it all, one of my wings was bent weird and had fallen asleep. I could feel the pins and needles inside of it.

My first coherent thought was, _I hope Anna's okay._ I looked around the room with this little light I had. There was no sign of her anywhere. Maybe she had gotten lucky and had been left behind. Then she could help, although I would bet my life that Mom and Dad had already discovered everything by now.

All my body wanted to do was rest, sleep. I laid back against the wall and considered what I could do. Option one: Struggle against the bonds and try to break free. I gave an experimental tug. No response, nothing even moved. So, that was screwed. Option two: Give up and fall asleep again. I wasn't going to give up this early. Scratch option two. That left one course of action left, option three: _wait it out._

Well, I really hoped that I wouldn't be waiting for long, because I was going to go insane. I was practically blind; the only light source was a tiny window seven feet up the wall. I knew that my eyes would adjust eventually, but I hated not knowing every little detail of my surroundings. It made me feel more secure. Plus, the floor hurt like _hell_. Looked like I was in the basement. Thin carpet, concrete underneath. Ouch.

After a while, I started to nod off, but came to my senses quickly enough that I didn't fall asleep. I wanted to be awake when someone came in for me. But after what I guessed to be several hours, I began to lose hope. Maybe I was just going to be left here to rot.

But surprisingly, ten or so minutes later, another robot walked in. The first thing he did was pull out a switchblade. I cringed, but tried to hide it in case he was wired. I didn't want whoever it was holding me here to think I was a weakling.

Turns out, he wasn't here to stab me. I suppose that this is a good time to count my blessings. But in times like these, it's kind of hard. Just to say.

He used the blade to cut the cords chafing my wrists and legs. I made a break for it, whirling around and kicking the robot in the solar plexus, but all I ended up with was a sore foot. I tried to run out of the open door, but the robot grabbed me and retied my hands.

I sighed. Not even one opportunity?

I suppose that I could've fought back, but I actually did want to see how this was going to turn out. Plus, I had no idea where to go, this place was probably crawling with people I didn't want to run into, and this robot thing outweighed me by at least one hundred and fifty pounds.

So, I went along with it. Keeping one hand on my wrist, the robot took me up a flight of stairs I hadn't noticed, opened the door and led me down a short corridor toward a black door at the end of the hallway. He steadily opened the mysterious door, which let out no squeaking protests as mine had. I groaned as I saw a chair with a pile of rope on the seat waiting for me.

Seriously, could my life become any more cliché?

I was (this should be a no brainer) tied to the chair. Tightly. And, my hands were still behind me. Apparently, this robot had no sense of empathy or restraint, because God, it hurt. But seriously, couldn't these people come up with something a little more, I don't know, original? This was just so, so… _action movie. _No, let me correct that. _Bad action movie._

I ignored my raging desire to rant, and did a sensible once over on the room. I was in an office, most likely. Actually, disregard that. I was most definitely in an office. No other room has a squeaky clean desk with a swively chair, carpet that your feet sink into, quote unquote "sensible" furnishings, and a paperweight shaped like… a piece of paper. I was right. These guys had been born without any sense of originality.

But speaking of that swively chair, it was faced away from me, and if you've ever seen an action TV show, you should know what's going to happen. Wait, disregard that. You should know what's going to happen even if you've never even watched TV.

I tried to guess who my dastardly captor was. Ex-military general, kicked out of the armed forces and imprisoned for a criminal act of violence? Classic cartoon villain, complete with handlebar mustache? Maybe an ex-whitecoat? With these kinds of stereotypical profiles running through my head, I was quite surprised when the chair turned around.

The person in the chair was a fifteen-year-old girl.

I burst out laughing.

She glared at me.

"It's just," I stopped to catch my breath, "I was expecting a little more… evilness." _Evilness? _Dear God, what is wrong with me? "You've even got pigtails in your hair.

She ignored me, took out a cell phone, and dialed a number on speed dial. "Marcus!" She barked into the phone with surprising authority. "You said she was little!"

I scoffed. "Little? Really? Do I look little?" I tried to gesture at my 5'8 frame. Sadly, I had limited hand movement. Make that limited finger movement.

Again, I was rudely ignored. I mean, after kidnapping me and keeping me hostage, I deserved a little respect, didn't I?

I suppose not.

A voice squawked into her Bluetooth. "She's almost my age! That is not little!" A pause. "No, her hair is not blond." And then: "You idiot! They took the wrong girl! The wrong daughter!"

"That's okay, talk about me like I'm not here." I scowled at her.

In response, she raised her eyebrows. I did the same. She rolled her eyes and got back to the conversation. "No, we can't send them out again. Too risky. We'll just have to make do. I'll talk with you later."

She hit the END button on her phone forcefully, then slammed it down on the desk.

"Touchy, aren't we?" I said in the most irksome voice I could muster. If I could have rubbed my hands together in anticipation, I would've. But sadly, Kiera can't move. At all. Poor Kiera.

She clenched her fist. "It's called dealing with expendables. They make mistakes, and you get rid of them. Hence the expendable."

"What did whats-his-face do?"

"He took you on accident." She sighed.

"Wow, I really feel for you. I mean, the utter devastation of having the wrong kidnapping victim doesn't even compare with being assaulted and tied to a freaking _chair_."

"Yes, it does. This could ruin my career."

"This could ruin my life." I retorted.

"This is why I needed the younger one." She muttered.

"I can hear you."

"Yeah, I can hear you too. That's the problem."

"Y'know, I'm glad you took me instead."

She looked at me like I was insane. "Do I want to know why?"  
"Because if I hadn't been, I'd be at home worrying about Chloe. Instead I'm here annoying the hell out of you. This is much better, trust me."

/

Me: That was fun!

Kiera: I like that chapter.

Me: Good. I'm tired of listening to your griping. It's 'change this!' and 'I would NOT say that!'"

Kiera: You're writing about me. Do I even get a say?

Me: Nope!

Kiera: *sigh* That's what I thought.

Me: **You've stuck with me in this story so far **

**And I've been working hard**

**So I ask you for just one single favor**

**Readers, would you please R&R?**

Kiera: Huh?

Me: St. Fang's poetry corner inspired me.

Kiera: Yeah? Well, your poetry sucks.

Me: *sigh* I know… But seriously, R&R?


	8. Darn those annoying coppers

Me: Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update. Been busy lately with school stuff. Had play tryouts today.

Kiera: I'm sure that everyone is so excited to hear about your school life.

Me: Point… Might as well get on with it.

/

Fang's POV

The policeman escorted me into the house and waited patiently as I took out my key and unlocked the front door. During the car drive here, he had radioed in for a forensics team. I had sighed, knowing that this was going to turn out bad.

I took him into the house, and there was Max, my Max, sitting at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. She glanced up as we entered and quickly composed herself. I could see that she had been crying. But considering the circumstances…

The officer took out his notepad again, then glanced at me and raised his eyebrows. I nodded curtly at him, shot an _It'll be okay,_ look at Max, and motioned for the irksome policeman to follow me out of the back door.

We had put the body in our cellar. We actually did have a cellar from when we bought the house. We never used it, as also having a basement, but it could be useful. Like, hey, now, for instance. I took out another key and opened up the rotting wooden door. Grabbing a sturdy stick and a flashlight from the wall, I started down the stairs.

Turning back, I saw that the officer hadn't followed me down yet. "Are you coming?" I questioned.

"I, well… I'm not so sure if I can…"

I silently chuckled. This macho officer was afraid of a cellar. I decided to play with him a little. "Don't worry, I have a stick for the spiders." I said, my voice sounding deadly serious.

He had composed himself slightly. "I think it would be more prudent for you to bring the body up, sir." He said, trying to sound authoritative, and achieving stinkworm.

I nodded sadistically and continued down the stairs. I grunted as I lifted up the heavy skeleton. This thing weighed more than twice my weight, and even with my bird-kid strength, this was strenuous work.

As I came to view at the top of the dark steps the officer blanched. I continued on past him to our picnic table and set the robot down with a thump. "Is this okay?" I asked.

He nodded, as if he was surprised that I had come right out with it. I suppose that he had reason. Most murderers don't bring out the body and set it down on a table after being asked to. But then again, this really didn't count as a murder. The person had to be alive before you killed them. The person had to be a person.

I took him back inside. Motioning for him to take a seat on the couch, I pulled Max aside.

"This is bad, isn't it?" She asked me, biting her lip.

I nodded. "We're going to have to tell them."

She swore under her breath, then, "We'll do what it takes. But after this, there'll be nowhere we can go to avoid people. Once they know we're who we are…"

I gave her a kiss. "We'll find a way out of it." The truth was, that once this whole situation hit the fan, our faces would be splashed around the world, on tabloids, newspapers, and TV shows. The press would have a field day with this. They'd been looking for us ever since we disappeared. I've seen enough "Where are they now?" things on the celebrity TV shows.

We waited in silence until the forensics team arrived. Dutifully, I took them out back. The team gasped as I showed them, prior to their belief, that this was not an actual person, but a machine. More specifically, a killing machine.

I'm guessing that this was all new to them. For us, this was regular. So twenty years ago.

Pretty soon, our house was a whirlwind of cops, scientists, and official looking people. One of them, seeming to be quite a bit brighter than the rest came up to me and looked me straight in the eye. Well, maybe he wasn't so bright.

"Mr. Ryde? How would you spell your last name?" He said. For Pete's sake, it wasn't all that hard to spell.

"R-Y-D-E. Ryde."  
He looked at me, then wrote it down doubtfully. "I know that's not it."

I shot a glance at the irritable little bugger. "I know that it is. It just happens to be my last name."

He continued on. "And your first name isn't Nick either. It's…" He looked as if the word, oh, I don't know, _Fang_, was perched on his lips. Catch that? Perched?

So now I develop a sense of humor.

Well, now that he was on to something, I might as well finish it. I sighed. "Look, you're right, my name isn't Nick Ryde."

"It's Fang." He said, his suspicions confirmed.

I nodded. "There you go."

He scurried off to tell… well, to tell whoever was in charge. Which I didn't care to meet. "I'm out." I said as I walked past Max. Now that the cat, er, bird was out of the bag, I might as well get out fast before the press arrived.

I tore off my jacket and threw it on the floor. Throwing open the door, I whipped out my wings, and started to run the length of the backyard. Police spilled out of the door, eager to watch me take off. Most of them were my age or a little bit older. All of them had heard of us. And I'm betting that not one of them had seen us fly.

_Well, here's their chance, _I thought as I jumped into the air and started flapping. It felt good, being in the air again. The freedom of the wide open space surrounding me. The tiny people below who couldn't come bother me. It just felt so, so… at home.

And plus, sometimes running away is the best thing to do.

/

Me: Sorry guys. I had to kinda put in a filler chapter of some sort.

Kiera: I wasn't even in that one… *tear*

Me: … Narcissist.

R&R?


End file.
